Tributes paid to Telford zoo's 'gentle' ostrich, Jake, who starred in Harry Potter film
"It was agreed that the kindest option was to let him go peacefully.""Jake was a huge character and will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Thank you to everyone who loved and cared for him over the years."Dozens of people paid tribute to him on social media, sharing memories of visiting him.One said: "This is so sad. I will miss him pecking the fence instead of the food scoop. And him being scared of the red scoop."Another added: "Will always remember how Jake made my boy giggle so hard when he use to peck at the fence after eating his feed."
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Scottish Sun
35 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
I'm being booted out of our £4m home in 10 days… but I REFUSE to leave, says Harry Potter star Leslie Phillips' widow
After Leslie, who voiced The Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, died two and a half years ago aged 98, the contents of his will remained private KEEP CALM & CARRY ON I'm being booted out of our £4m home in 10 days… but I REFUSE to leave, says Harry Potter star Leslie Phillips' widow Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CARRY ON star Leslie Phillips' widow is being ordered to leave the home they shared throughout their married life. Zara Phillips has been warned by lawyers that if she does not vacate by August 7, they will go to court to get her out. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 Leslie Phillips' widow Zara is being ordered to leave the home they shared throughout their married life Credit: Brad Wakefield - The Sun 4 Zara has been warned by lawyers that if she does not vacate by August 7, they will go to court to get her out Credit: Jon Bond But Zara, 69, insists: 'I am not going.' After Leslie, who voiced The Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, died two and a half years ago aged 98, the contents of his will remained private. But when his last wishes were made public in 2024, it became clear that Leslie's will had been changed during the Covid crisis. The new will, approved in the Court of Protection, was substantially different to the one drawn up by Leslie the day before the couple married in December 2013. In 2014 Leslie suffered a massive stroke, and Zara quit work and looked after him until his death in November 2022. Leslie's first will had allowed Zara, his third wife and 36 years his junior, to stay in his £4million West London home for the rest of her life. But former air stewardess Zara discovered that a new will states the property must be sold and the proceeds put into a trust fund to be divided between her and Leslie's two sons and two daughters from his first marriage to actress Penelope Bartley. The new will, drawn up in November 2020, insists Zara has to be out of the five-bed property next month. According to a legal letter seen by The Sun, if she refuses to go, lawyers will apply to the courts for possession. Fighting back tears Zara says: 'Where would I go? I am in ill-health, old and frail, not well enough to move and I am still grieving.' Leslie Phillips dead at 98 – Harry Potter star who voiced Sorting Hat and Carry On icon passes away after long illness She adds: 'Leslie would not have wanted me to be thrown onto the street. I had known him for nearly 30 years. 'They told me that if I do go to court, they will deduct the money from my inheritance. 'The court can bring the bailiffs to throw me out but I won't go. The executors said, 'We know you looked after Leslie very well 24/7. That's the reason we're giving you money'. 'I found it very disrespectful. A wife doesn't charge her husband for looking after him when he is ill.' In a showbiz career lasting eight decades, Leslie appeared in more than 200 movies as well as hit TV series and on stage around the world. He was best known for his catchphrases 'Ding Dong', 'Well, Hellooo' and 'I Say' from appearing in 'Carry On' movies, delivered in rich dulcet tones. He wooed a new generation of fans as the voice of The Sorting Hat in Harry Potter movies, and also appeared with Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider as well as Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and in Out of Africa with Robert Redford. Leslie's personal life was plagued by tragedy. His first wife Penelope died in a house fire in 1981, while Leslie was in Australia. The following year he married Bond girl Angela Scoular, who killed herself in 2011 with a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol after suffering terminal bowel cancer. Zara, a friend for more than 20 years, helped Leslie come to terms with Angela's death. They fell in love and married in December 2013. The actor's estate is valued at over £5million, including the house, which he bought in the 1960s at the height of his fame. When Covid shut down the country in 2020, Zara protected Leslie from the effects of the pandemic. But at that time Leslie changed the will, giving Zara just two years nine months after his death to vacate the house. Zara says: 'I was very vulnerable that time. The country was in the grip of the Covid crisis. 'I was the main carer for Leslie, who was disabled. His will was not my priority at that time. 'I was younger than him and I was devoted and committed. He was my main priority. I loved him with all my heart. I did what I had to do and put Leslie first.' A spokesman for the executors of Leslie's will says: 'I confirm that the administration of Leslie Phillips' estate is ongoing in accordance with a Will approved by the Court of Protection. 'It would not be appropriate for me to comment further for reasons of confidentiality.' 4 The couple tied the knot back in 2013 Credit: Louis Hollingsbee - The Sun
Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Telegraph
Miriam Margolyes's OBE should be stripped, says anti-Semitism group
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Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
ITV The Chase star Anne Hegerty 'happy in own company' after struggling to pay bills
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These days, Anne is almost always seen in a smart suit that is reminiscent of a schoolmarm, something she has called "stupendously unflattering" but does admittedly fit her quizzing persona perfectly. The governess character is "a bit creepy" Anne has said, revealing she based the persona in part on Professor Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series. "But a friend of mine said 'you won't be able to sustain that', so I went down the more of the standard scary rout and, in recent years, at least one American viewer has compared me to Professor McGonagall from the Harry Potter films," she previously told Stuff. "So McGonagall, not Umbridge: I'll take that." Before becoming a star on The Chase, Anne was going through a difficult time in her personal life. She had been working as a freelance proofreader, but found things getting on top of her. Anne, who is autistic, found it tricky to stay on top of her accounts due to her condition. 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It wasn't long after this that Anne got her big break on The Chase, and whilst she has said she is incredibly grateful for her job, she has also admitted some aspects of fame can be tricky to deal with. "It is difficult to go down the street without being recognised. It's weird and interesting," she said of her celebrity status. "There are times when you're not absolutely crazy about it.. but I hope I never take it for granted." Anne has also appeared on Fifteen to One, Today's the Day, Are You an Egghead? and Brain of Britain - and in 2016 came in at 55th in the World Quizzing Championships, the second highest woman placing in the competition. Anne is undoubtedly a massive brainiac and general knowledge superstar, but she has admitted her autism has got in the way of forging romantic connections. In a candid moment on The Chaser's Roadtrip she confessed to her co-stars Mark Labbett and Shaun Wallace that her longest relationship had been only four months. "He was a lovely bloke, but I am just not good with the sort of attention that people need," she admitted. Anne has never shied away from the topic of her personal life, telling the Guardian that "I think the problem is I find it really difficult to fall in love with real people. I've thought: 'Am I in love with this guy?' And then we kind of get together and I think 'damn it, no, oh dear'." She explained further to OK! magazine that she struggles at times to stay in the moment, "I get overwhelmed in the presence of actual people and everything shuts down. I've found that with sex, too. It's like I can't be fully in it. That much intimacy, I almost zone out." However, there is a long list of single men hoping for an opportunity to take out Anne - who is based in Watford - if she ever changes her mind about preferring her "own company". "Let's say I would not be short of offers if I went looking. But I am happy with my own company," she told The Sun. "I've had relationships go wrong precisely because I could not devote the mental energy to it, and I just thought 'No, no, no, this is not a good idea'. I find men make such great friends - so let's keep them like that."
